The late Qing Period: Rebellions & Uprisings.

The Rise of Rebellions
China experienced a sequence of rebellions and uprisings
this was between 1850 & 1873
they came close to overthrowing the Qing dynasty.
the greatest of these was the Taiping Rebellion (1850-64)
for much of its course it was centred on Nanjing
it split the country in two.
the Nian rebellion (1853-68) had its base area in northern Anhui

Rebellion in the North and South
A dangerous situation arose for the Qing due to a number of factors.
a) the decline of the economy of the peasants.
b) famine.
c) population pressure.
d) the scarcity ion resources
e) government corruption
f) heavy taxes

The cause of the Nubian Rebellion of 1853 to 1868 as the destruction caused by the flooding.
this was the flooding of the Yellow River in 1853 & 1855.
The government was not able to respond to this.disaster due to its depleted finances.
The lack of response triggered the revolt.
The Panthay Rebellion (1856-1873) started in Yunnan province.
Te fights were between the Hui (Chinese Muslims) and the Han Chinese migrants.
They fought over mining resources.
More fighting took place with the Muslim Rebellion in Xinjiang, Shanxi and Gansu (1862-1877)
These Muslim rebels (Yunnan & Gansu) threatened the succession of these provinces from China.
This was a continuation of issues of territorial conquests of the early and mid-Qing period.
In 1853 secret society members captured Shanghai and Xiamen.
In the following year the Red Turbans nearly captured Guangzhou.

The Theories of Rebellion

In the Confucian historiography of the rise of rebellion marked a stage in the dynastic cycle.
This was when dynasties were headed by virtuous rulers who enjoyed the Mandate of Heaven.
It happened that their successors and their officials could not maintain the standards of their predecessors.
Thus the quality of government declined.
Rebellions arose which overthrew the dynasty.
The dynasty cycle began again under a new leader.
Some modern historians have adopted this concept explaining the dynasty cycle in administrative rather than in moral terms.
Dynasties were founded by active rulers supported by a modest court and an efficient bureaucracy.
They exercise effective military authority.
They also extended the frontiers of the empire.
Later in the cycle, the court became extravagant
The bureaucracy became corrupt.
The armed forces deteriorated.
They could no longer defend the over-extended frontiers.
The burden of taxes increased.
Taxation was heaped over more oppressively on those least able to pay.
This ended up provoking the rebellion which was to overthrow the dynasty.
These rebellions are commonly described as "peasant rebellions."
This implied that it arose from peasant immiseration.
Or that the leaders were peasants.as the term also acquired a political implication.
Mao Zedong described the hundreds of uprisings as "peasant revolutionary wars."
They arose because of the ruthless economic exploitation of the peasantry by the landlord class.
It was an expression of class struggle.
These wars formed the "real motive force of China's historical evolution."
The mid-19th century rebellions may be located in the downward phase of dynastic cycles.
The White Lotus Rebellions of the late 18th century became a major threat.
This was because of
a) the lack of effectiveness of the armed forces and
b) the misappropriations of funds by Heshen, the Qianlong Emperor's favourite.
This decline was not continuous.
Qianlong's successor, the Jaiquing emperor, did attack corruption and attempted to curb court extravagance.
The roots of corruption and inefficiency in state enterprise went deep.
This was demonstrated by the prolonged and unsuccessful attempt to revitalize the grain-tribute administration.
This was the agency that transported the rice collected as tax from the provinces of the Yangzi delta to Beijing.
The most important factor undermining the dynasty was a new phenomenon.
This was the unprecedented growth of the population.
In the 18th century the population of China had doubled.
It increased from about 150 million to 300 million people.
This rise hd occurred in a period of prolonged peace.
This was a time when there was no outbreak of epidemic disease.
Until the end of the 18th century population growth had been matched by increases in the food supply.
Part of the increase came from the slow diffusion of new crops - maze, sweet potato, peanuts.
They were introduced into China from America.
This was during the late Ming period.
The increase in population encouraged extensive migration.
It went away from densely populated delta regions to less exploited hilly regions.
Migration weakened administrative control.
This was because migrant communities were unstable.
Migrant population went unruly.
They could not be readily incorporated into the baojia system of collective security framework.
In some areas friction arose between the established Chinese population & recent arrivals.
In southern Guangxi, for example, the recent arrivals were often Hakka or media (guest people) Chinese who spoke in a different dialect.
The population growth led to a rise in the number of candidates in the official examination.
And this heightened the already fierce competition for bureaucratic appointments.
Administrative tasks became more complex.
Officials took on supernumerary personnel to enable them to fulfill their duties.
They were paid by increasing the unofficial levies imposed on taxpayers.
A number of connections have been identified between
The Opium Wars
Western Imperialism
The Rise of Rebellion
The opium trade and the consequent outflow of silver altered the exchange rate between copper and silver.
This increased the land tax paid by poor farmers.
It may have also exacerbated the contraction of the economy between 1825 and 1850 which led to the rise in unemployment.
The opening of Shanghai as a treaty port put out of work thousands of porters & boatmen.
They had been employed in transporting tea to Guangzhou.

One of the tasks of the British navy, after the seizure of Xiangang was to expel the pirate fleets from local waters.
Some moved up the Xi (West) River, where they joined the rebels in the early stages of the Taiping Rebellion.
In north China, rebellion was often associated with the White Lotus Sect or religion.
In the south, the more common association was with the secret societies commonly known in the West as the Triad.
These had originated on Taiwan in the 17th century.
Their political objective was the overthrow of the Qing and the restoration of the Ming.
In times of peace they provided mutual support for their members.
Their members engaged in criminal activities such as piracy, smuggling, and racketeering.
When disturbances occurred the secret societies were quick to take advantage of the situation.
In the 18th century, the societies spread across southern China.
They were gaining recruits among mobile groups.
Such groups were porters and boatmen.
Among them were bandits, smugglers, and pirates.
From about 1840 the secret societies were beginning to recruit from the settled peasantry of the Pearl River delta.
This was when fighting between lineages became quite common.

The Taiping Rebellion

An unusual rebellion was the Taiping because it was based on a a radical form of Christianity.
Hong Xiuquan (1814-64) the future leader of the Taiping was a Hakka Chinese.
He came from the district of Huaxian in Guangdong.
In 1836, when in Guangzhou for the provincial exams her was handed a collection of Christian tracts entitled Good Works to Admonish the Age.
The following year, having failed the exam, he fell ill.
He had a series of dreams in which a venerable man presented him with a sword with which to exterminate demons.
Also present was a middle-aged man, whom he called elder brother, fought at his side against devils.

In 1843 Hong failed the examination for a 4th time.
After returning home he picked up the tracts he had been given 7 years ago.
They seemed to have given the key to his dreams.
The venerable man was God the Father.
The middle-aged man was his son Jesus Christ.
Hong himself was God's Chinese son.
Hong felt he was the one who had been entrusted with the task of restoring the true faith to China.
Hong began by telling his family about the vision.
He began making his first converts.
Among them was his cousin Hong Ren'gan.
Also a fellow school teacher Feng. Yunshan.
They removed the Confucian tablets from the village school.
Hostilities from the villagers were aroused.
This might have prompted their decision to travel to Guangxi.
there they began to make converts from the Hakka living there.

The God Worshipper' Society

Feng Yunshan had been arrested.
He was arrested on charges of planning a rebellion.
Later two new leaders emerged.
a) Yang Xiuqing - a charcoal burner later known as the Eastern King.
b) Xiao Chaogui - a poor hill farmer who became the western king.
Both claimed spirit possession
Yang as the mouthpiece of God the Father
Xiao was that of Jesus Christ.

The Heavenly Kingdom of the Great Peace

The God Worshippers movement entered a millennial phase.
This was in the summer of 1850.
They anticipated an immanent second coming.
The adherents abandoned their houses.
They began to assemble near the villages of Jintian.
There they deposited their valuables in a sacred treasury.
They began to practice the segregation of the sexes.
In January 1851 Hong Xiuquan declared the establishment of the Taiping Tianguo, the Heavenly Kingdom of the Great Peace.
This was after having ben attacked by the gentry-led militia & government troops.
Hong himself assumed the title of Heavenly King.
The rebellion then went through several phases.
In September the Taiping captured a small walled city of Yongan.
Over the next few months
a) they created a military organization
b) established a collective leadership.
c) captured a printing press
d) published various. documents including a new calendar.
Yongan was besieged by government troops
In April 1852, the Taiping broke out
They began a spectacular northern advance.
They collected following estimated at over one million. people.

Power Struggle

In March 1853 they captured Nanjing.
They committed the strategic error of making the city their capital.
Later that year a northern expedition. came close to capturing Beijing.
Over the next seven years a stalemate took place.
The rebels occupied the middle Yangzi
Government troops and government-led militia were unable to dislodge them.
In 1856 a power struggle took place.
This was within the collective leadership.
It resulted in the death of the Eastern King.
Many of his followers were killed.
In 1859, Hong's cousin Hong Ren'gan rejoined the movement.
Under his leadership and that of Li Xincheng, the rebellion revived.
In 1862 the rebels nearly captured Shanghai.
But the tide turned.
The rebels were losing control of the Yangzi above Nanjing.
They were losing it to forces raised by the gentry leaders
They were also losing the Yangzi delta region to similar forces.
These forces were supported by the British.
In July 1864 Nanjing was captured again.
Hong Xiuquan then committed suicide.

Understanding the Rebellion

The Taiping Rebellion had many aspects to it.
It has been interpreted by many.
It was inspired by religion.
In the early years its followers were required to refrain from
a) tobacco
b) opium
c )alcohol
d) gambling
e) engaged in sexual relations.
The Christian elements in it at first raised hope among the Protestant missionaries.
Later most Westerners found fault with it.
They regarded int as blasphemous.
They alleged that the rebel leaders were hypocrites.
They accused them of not observing the religion.
The Rebellin was seen as an expression of nationalist spirit.
It was directed at Manchu oppression.
It was committed to achieving a complete reform of China's social, economic, political and military
institutions.
This referred an ambitious program of reforms.
They were proposed by Hong Ren'gan.
But they were never implemented.
The rebellion is often described as a revolution.
This refers to the ambitious plans to remake society.
The plan was contained in a document.
It was entitled "The Land System of the Heavenly Dynasty."
It prescribed that land
a) should be classified according to its fertility.
b) then divided up among the population.
This was to be done with equal shares for men and women.
each family would be allowed to retain the amount of food that it required for its own consumption.
Te rest would be deposited in the public grainary.
The population would be divided up into groups of 25 families.
Each headed by a sergeant.
He would be responsible for the religious education of the children.
The same system was given to the military organization of the Taiping state.
It defined the arrangements for the promotion and demolition of individuals.
The land system attributed to Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, displayed revolutionary intentions.
This accorded with the interpretation of the rebellion as a class movement directed at the landlords.
There was not a great deal of evidence that it was implemented.
In some areas of Taiping control some attempt was made to introduce the 25 family system but no redistribution of land took place.

Self-Strengthening

Over a period of about 50 years China changed dramatically.
This was the arrogance of Qianlong to a series of defeats and humiliation.
This internal and external collapseXiang army that were fighting the Taiping.
When he saw the British steamboat on the Yangzi River, he was choked at the "new" -
He fainted and fell off his horse.
He recalled that China could not match the military superiority of the West.

Learning From the West

The idea was that of "yiyi zhiyi" ("use the barbarians to control the barbarians")
This was the traditional way of dealing with the barbarians.
The only difference in this was using barbarian technology to defeat them.
One would have to learn the principles of Western technology.
You also needed the language to have access to the science.
The point was to be able to make their own cannons, guns and steamboats.
The government established the Zongli Yamen.
It was similar to the Western Ministry. of Foreign Affairs.
New schools were established to learn foreign languages
The Tongwenguan was founded in Beijing in 1862.
It would evolve into Peking University.
Military industries (arsenals) were established in major cities (Shanghai, Nanjing, Tianjin, Fuzhou).

The Treaty of Shimonoseki

From the early stages of reform, Japan had been building its navy.
In 1894 the Japanese fleet defeated Li Hongzhang's Northern Fleet.
The war concluded with the Treaty of Shimonoseki.
The terms were as follows
a) China had to recognize the independence of Korea.
b) China had to give up the Liaodong Peninsula & Taiwan to Japan.
c) China agreed to pay an indemnity of 200 million taels of silver.
d) France, Germany, and Russia demanded and got 30 million taels.

One Hundred Days Reform

The terms of the treaty were made public.
This was when thousands of provincial graduates had gathered in Beijing for an exam.
A petition was organized by Kang Youwei to be sent to the emperor.
It was signed by 1200 students from 18 provinces.
The petition called for reforms in
a0 education,
b) bureaucracy,
c0 the army
e) commerce
f) industry
g) banking & other areas.
Kang discussed this with the young emperor.
Guangxi accepted the proposals and a series of edicts announcing. the new policies.
The reforms lasted from June 11 to September 21, 1989 - 104 days.

the conservatives in government panicked and the Empress Dowager engineered a coup.
The emperor was put in jail until he died in 1908.
A day later the Empress died.
Six leading reformists were publicly executed in the main street of the capital.

Carving Up the Melon

In China, Western powers were dividing China into spheres of influence.
Certain events, such as the murder of missionaries served as a pretext for further demands.
these spheres of influence often involved holding leases.
The leases were generally for railways & commercial privileges in a specific region.
Some even claimed to own Chi ness territory.
They also made claim to open port cities.

The Boxer Rebellion

The exploitation by the West bred resentment all over China toward foreigners.
In Shangdong they had local grievances.
This was due to British control of Weihaiwei & German occupation of Qingdao.
Toward the end of the 19th century, the region suffered a devastating flood.
The result was widespread destruction of crops, which led to the starvation of many people.

Origin of the Boxers

They began as a religious sect in Shandong and nearby areas (Hunan & Hubei).
Shandong had a long history of heterodox religions & rebellions with a religious basis.
In 1898 a secret society emerged out of nowhere.
They were called the Yihequan - the "Society of Righteous & Harmonious Fists."
They attracted thousands of followers.
The society practiced various forms of martial arts & chanted magic spells.
They believed the spells and magic made them immune to the bullets & physical pain.
Westerners called this group Boxers.

The Boxer Protocol

Li Hongzhang was called to Beijing to negotiate with the Western nations for a peace treaty.
The treaty was known as the Boxer Protocol signed on Sept. 7, 1900.

Terms of the Treaty

a) China was required to pay over a period of 39 years, an indemnity of 450 taels of silver to0 the countries involved.
b) income from the Chinese customs service & the salt tax were to be the source of funds which would guarantee that the reparations were made.
c) Western powers could now station their troops in Beijing to guard the legations.
d) they were to maintain a clear corridor from the capital to the coast.
e) The Protocol suspended the examinations for five years in areas where anti-foreign atrocities were committed.
f) all arms import into China were suspended.
g) the Protocol demanded the execution of two high ranking officials who were responsible for supporting the Boxer. Uprising.

Asia 210 - Modern China

Sunday, October 10, 2021

The late Qing Period: Rebellions & Uprisings.

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